


It's a Magical World

by Marzos



Category: Carmilla - All Media Types, Carmilla - J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Genre: Because my friend requested it, Calvin and Hobbes AU, Crack Fic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-27
Updated: 2016-01-23
Packaged: 2018-05-09 16:11:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5546795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marzos/pseuds/Marzos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laura made a deal with her dad: she could have a real tiger for her birthday--if she could catch it. Not one to give up easily, Laura set up a trap with leftover birthday cake, a net, and waited.</p><p>She ended up catching a panther instead, but Laura didn't mind. </p><p>(Laura is five, Carmilla is able to talk when she is a panther, and she feels sorry for the lonely little girl that managed to catch her in a net and impulsively tells her they can be friends)</p><p>(A Calvin and Hobbes AU with some Peanuts thrown in)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> To make this really clear: Laura is a child in this fic. As such...HOLLSTEIN IS 100% PLATONIC. 
> 
> Merry Christmas to Maureen, who gave me this request for a Calvin and Hobbes AU...also the strangest thing I've ever done. Thanks!

There was no compromise for Laura:

 

She was five years old, and she wanted a tiger for her birthday.

 

Not only were tigers the coolest animals _ever_ (they were even the mascot of her favorite cereal!) but they were fluffy. And, most importantly, she could ride one.

 

Her dad couldn’t tell her things were ‘too dangerous’ if she had a tiger to protect her!

 

Laura pointed this out in a presentation a week before her birthday. With charts, diagrams, and picture. Along with glitter. Lots of glitter.

 

“...And, as you can see from this graph, fathers who gave their children animals as presents showed _substantial_ and _immediate_ rise in their approval ratings that stayed constant for at least several months--”

 

“Okay!” Mr. Hollis laughed, “Okay. Laura, if you want a tiger, I’ll get you a tiger.”

 

Laura jumped on him, hugging him tightly. “Thank, thank you, _thank you_ daddy!”

 

“Of course, kiddo! You only turn five once.”

 

Laura thought she would have the best birthday ever.

 

She was wrong.

 

Instead of her real, fluffy, giant tiger...she got a small, floppy, (although admittedly still fluffy) stuffed tiger.

 

“...Is this a toy for my real tiger, Dad?”

 

His huge smile stopped reaching his eyes. “Laura, honey, you didn’t think I could get you a _real_ tiger, did you?”

 

“Why not?”

 

He went through all the standard reasons that Laura had already thought of, _of course._ Where would we keep it (the garage, obviously), how would we feed it (he could share Laura’s food, she didn’t even touch her vegetables anyway) and what if the tiger is dangerous (it wouldn’t be _dangerous_ if she was his _friend)._

 

In the end, after Laura expertly refuted all of his arguments, Mr. Hollis sighed, running a hand down his face.

 

“...Okay, Baby Bear, I’ll make you a deal. You can have a real tiger--”

 

Laura was about to jump in the air and do a happy dance--

 

“-- _If_ you can catch one yourself.”

 

Laura’s eyes widened.

 

Really? Catch one herself?

 

That was...was…

 

Laura’s face broke into a huge grin.

 

A _great_ deal.

*******

Laura had only one request. “Dad, can you help me set up the net trap?”

 

Because he liked outdoors stuff and camping and things. Although he had stopped doing that stuff when Laura’s mom died, apparently. Laura had no recollection of her other than he stopped going camping because it was ‘too dangerous’ when he had a daughter to think about.

 

But he still knew how to make traps for animals.

 

“What are you putting in the trap, Laura?”

 

“A slice of my cake,” Laura said, “my chocolate cake.”

 

Mr. Hollis stifled a laugh and suggested Laura should consider putting some meat in the trap. Laura shook her head.

 

“ _Everyone_ loves chocolate, daddy. Tigers eat meat when they’re hungry, but even if he’s not hungry he’ll want a slice of cake.”

 

She nodded curtly. There. Her trap was set.

 

“Okay, Baby Bear,” Mr. Hollis said, taking Laura’s tiny hand in his own fist, “Why don’t we go inside. You need to go to bed, and you can check the trap in the morning, okay?”

 

“Okay, daddy! What do you think I should name my tiger, huh? Do you think Tony would be too easy? Ooooh! How about Bagheera! Like in the Jungle Book...I don’t want to name him after the tiger in that, he was mean…”

 

She continued babbling until she was tucked into bed, and fell asleep dreaming about riding around the neighborhood on her new friend.

 

By the time Laura woke up, it was five in the morning. Way too early for her to wake up, especially on a Saturday, but she was just so _excited._ Of course her trap was going to work.

 

In fact, what if it _already_ worked?

 

Tigers walked around at night, right?

 

And there was _never_ a bad time to eat chocolate cake, right?

 

She got out of bed, rubbing her hands together. It couldn’t hurt to check.

 

She tip toed down the stairs. Poked her head around corners just in case her dad was already up.

 

Slowly, carefully, Laura stood on tiptoe to grab the handle of the sliding glass door that led to the backyard.

 

“Hey, tiger…?”

 

Laura gasped.

 

Of course she thought it would work, but she was still surprised when it _did._

 

“A TIGER--waaaaaaaiiiiit.”

 

There it was. Struggling in the net trap, hanging from the tree above the picnic table where Laura had placed the slice of cake and set the net trap. But it was definitely _not_ a tiger.

 

No reason to be scared of it when it was trapped, even if it did sound kind of annoyed.

 

“Hi!” Laura exclaimed. She walked toward it, “My name is Laura. I caught you, see!”

 

As she walked closer, she could see in the morning light that there was chocolate around its snout. “Did you like the cake? It was for my birthday.”

 

She raised her hand, grinning. “I’m five now, see! My dad told me I could have my own pet tiger if I could catch one for my birthday. But...”

 

Laura hopped on the picnic table, looking up at the animal, their faces only inches apart. “Except you’re not a tiger. Not that there’s anything _wrong_ with whatever you are...it’s just, tigers are really cool looking, and you’re cool looking too but you’re just _black.”_

 

The cat stopped struggling. It looked like it was glaring at her. Laura frowned.

 

“Hey, I’m sorry--”

 

“I’m a _panther,”_ the cat growled.

 

Laura’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

 

“What?”

 

“A panther. _That_ is what I am,” the cat repeated.

 

For a moment, Laura said nothing.

 

“...Okay,” she finally said, “this is _way_ better than some boring old tiger!”

*******

All Carmilla wanted was to eat a piece of cake.

 

Instead, she was being held captive by a five year old.

 

In all fairness, it was kind of her fault. She was walking through the neigborhood, trying to find someone to feed on (without killing, of course; she’d just moved into town, a death this soon was more trouble than it was worth). And then...cake. Chocolate cake. In retrospect, it was rather idiotic to just waltz into someone’s yard to eat a slice of cake they left behind.

 

But, then again, who ever heard of net traps in the urban jungle?

 

And then she got stuck in that net and spent all night as a panther trying to claw out to no avail.

 

And _now..._ she didn’t even know why she talked to her. She was tired, kind of annoyed at the universe in general, and really wanted the kid to just. Shut. Up.

 

Plus, panthers were _much_ better than tigers.

 

“Yes, yes, I am,” Carmilla said, rolling her eyes, “Now can you let me out so I can go?”

 

“But you can’t go! What’s your name?”

 

“Tell you what, kid. Let me go and I’ll tell you my name.”

 

Laura’s eyes narrowed. “Nuh-uh.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Because then you’ll run away!”

 

“...Look, can you just untie me, kid, please?”

 

“My name is Laura,” she said, pouting, and Carmilla couldn’t believe this was how she would end. Starving to death because she was captured by a toddler. “And I can make you a deal?”

 

“Deal. Okay. Great.”

 

“I will let you go... _if_ you promise to have a tea party with me.”

 

Carmilla almost preferred the starving option.

 

“A... _tea party.”_

 

“Yeah! I’m not missing out on the chance to hang out with a _talking black cat._ ”

 

What the…?

 

“I’ll bring all my friends,” Laura continued, “Right now. And I’ll have tea, and my leftover cake and cookies from my birthday party. And then you can go.”

 

“One tea party, and you will let me go?”

 

“Well, yeah,” Laura shrugged, “I mean, I can’t keep you in that net forever. And I’m not going to force you to stay if you wanna’ go. My dad says you can’t make people be your friend, you can only be yourself and good people will want to be your friend.”

 

Carmilla tilted her head, and Laura stared back in earnest.

 

“How do you know I won’t just run as soon as you untie me for the party…?”

 

“Because we made a deal, and I trust you.”

 

Carmilla should have said to herself that she needed to get the hell out of dodge...but the way Laura was looking at her, and saying that, she couldn’t. It was just one stupid tea party. Lap up some fake tea, munch on a few cookies, go free.

 

“Fine.”

 

“YAY!”

 

Laura sprinted back into the house. Carmilla kept shifting uncomfortably in the net. It was maybe ten minutes that went by until Laura came out balancing plates, cups, and a little tea kettle. She placed it all on the picnic table.

 

“Back in a mo’. I need to get my friends next!”

 

Laura bounced on her feet, running back into the house. Carmilla huffed. This was going to be the most painful tea party of her life--and those little luncheons she had to do with Maman weren’t exactly fun.

 

Finally, _finally,_ Laura showed up with an armful of stuffed animals.

 

“These are all my friends,” Laura announced, “here, let me help you.”

 

She placed the stuffed animals carefully on the picnic table seats, standing on the table to untie Carmilla. She fell to the ground with an _oof_ and scramble to her paws.

 

“Thanks.”

 

“Sit!”

 

Carmilla carefully maneuvered so she was sitting at the table. “Alright, let’s get this over with.”

 

“Wait, let me introduce you to my friends. This is Lois,” Laura pointed to a stuffed rabbit, “Clark--he’s a wolf, but him and Lois are still best friends--Mr. Lazy the sloth, Buffy the bat, and Blue the bear. I’ve had Blue since I was a baby.”

 

Carmilla squirmed uncomfortably. Laura poured some tea--actually, it was water--into her cup.

 

“I’m not allowed to use the stove, and we didn’t have any tea,” Laura said apologetically, “It’s still super early and I don’t want to wake daddy up to make it.”

 

“Fine.”

 

Carmilla bent down and delicately lapped up water from the tiny cup. Laura giggled.

 

“What?”

 

“Sorry, it just looks super funny.”

 

Carmilla took Laura in for a moment. “So...these are your friends?”

 

“Yep!”

 

“Your other friends couldn’t come…?”

 

Laura had been bright and bubbly this entire time, but Carmilla saw her face fall slightly. “No. These are all my friends. None of the other kids want to play with me much.”

 

Carmilla tried not to care. She was a random five year old. Why care?

 

“They think I’m weird,” Laura continued, “And I mess things up a lot. I used to have one friend named Betty, so it was okay, but she had to move,” Laura looked down at her cup, “But these guys are all really nice, so it’s fine!”

 

Carmilla stared at this little girl, feeding cookies to a stuffed rabbit that was apparently her only company; her dinosaur pajama pants; her one missing front tooth.

 

And she buckled, because she had nothing better to do.

 

Completely because she had nothing better to do.

 

“...Hey. You know, I don’t really have that many friends either.”

 

“I _have_ friends,” Laura grumbled.

  
“I mean...uh...human friends.”

 

Laura looked up. “I’d be your friend,” she said sincerely.

 

Why did this girl have to be cute? Why did Carmilla have to meet the one girl cute enough to make her feel pity?

 

“...You know, you’re not _that_ annoying,” Carmilla said slowly, “I could come back…”

 

In all of Carmilla’s several hundred years, she could never recall another time that she had seen a look of such poor, unbridled joy light up someone’s face.

 

_“ Really?”_

 

She had spoken too soon.

 

 _Way_ too soon.

 

But it would have been hard enough saying no to Laura before she grinning like an idiot and hopping to her feet.

 

“YAY!” She ran over to wrap her tiny arms around her thick neck, “We are going to be best friends, I promise! What do you like to do? What do panthers do for fun? Do you guys pounce like tigers? I always wanted to try pouncing! Could you teach me? I mean, if you _do--_ oh! And can you give me a piggyback ride? Dad won’t let me ride a pony, he says it’s ‘too dangerous’, but you’re smarter so I’m sure he’d be okay with it. _”_

 

Carmilla’s ears flattened. She’d probably show this girl she wasn’t actually a panther. Eventually.

 

At the moment, she took in Laura’s grin--one tooth missing and her hands clenched in little, excited fists--sighed, got up, and bent down so Laura could climb on.

  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am super surprised at the response I got to this silly little drabble I wrote for a friend! Here, have some more.

Mr. Hollis worked from home. It was so he could always be home for Laura; he did not trust babysitters, and they lived too far away from family. Unfortunately, working from home did not necessarily translate to being more attentive. Most of his day was spent locked in his office telling Laura not to do anything dangerous, which Laura then promptly ignored. 

 

In Laura’s defense, however, she had no reason to believe letting a talking panther into the house was  _ dangerous.  _ Her father said she could have a tiger, and panthers weren’t more dangerous than that. 

 

“So this is my house--what was your name again?” 

 

“Carmilla.” 

 

The panther walked in, sitting down and looking around the small home.

 

“That’s a funny name.” 

 

“Yeah,” Carmilla admitted. 

 

“But it’s a nice name!” Laura added, “Can I introduce you to my dad?” 

 

Carmilla froze. “Uh...no.” 

 

Laura frowned. Why not?” 

 

“I’m...uh... _ magic,”  _ Carmilla answered, and winced. Magic, really? “I can only be seen by you. And other kids, sometimes, I guess.” 

 

It was the stupidest excuse she’d ever thought of. But Laura was five, and imaginative, and to her it made perfect sense. “Oh, okay! That’s so cool! My new friend is a  _ magical  _ talking panther!” 

 

Laura sprinted up the stairs and opened the door to her father’s office. “Daddy?” 

 

“Hmm?” 

 

“I caught something!” 

 

Mr. Hollis’s eyes widened and he turned in his chair, looking at Laura. “You  _ did?  _ What?” 

 

“Yes! It’s not a tiger, though. It’s a panther. Well,  _ she’s  _ a panther. Her name is Carmilla and we’re friends.” 

 

The tension leaked out of his shoulders and he smiled. “Really? Can I meet her?” 

Laura shook her head. “No. Carmilla is a  _ magic  _ panther. She can only be seen by other kids.” 

 

Mr. Hollis reached down and ruffled Laura’s hair. “Well, I’m glad you made a new friend, Baby Bear.” 

 

“Daddy?” 

 

“Yes?” 

 

“What do you do when you catch a panther?” 

 

“Well...most people stuff them, but since she’s your friend I don’t think that’d be a good idea,” Mr. Hollis answered, turning back to his computer. 

 

“I can stuff her,” Laura answered, wanting to follow proper procedures for these sorts of things, “I’ll try it.” 

 

“Mmm-hmm,” Mr. Hollis answered, “I need to go back to work, Laura.” 

 

“Okay. Love you Daddy, thank you!”

 

Laura scampered back down the stairs. 

***

“Okay, I talked to my dad,” Laura said, skidding across the wood floor, “And I asked him what you’re supposed to do when you catch a panther.” 

 

Carmilla had, at this point, been laying on her back and staring at the ceiling. She looked at Laura. “Well?” 

 

“He said I should stuff you.” 

 

Carmilla’s eyes widened. “Wait,  _ what?”  _

 

“He says people do that. So I’m going to.” 

 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, that’s--” 

 

“What do you want to eat?” 

 

“...Eat?” 

 

“Yep. I’m going to stuff you.” 

 

Carmilla fought the urge to laugh. 

 

It’d been awhile since she fed, but she could go that at night while the kid was asleep. And Carmilla would be lying if she said she wasn’t rather amused. 

 

“Hmm...peanut butter and jelly.” 

 

Something simple a five year old could make. 

 

“You like peanut butter and jelly? Me too!” 

 

“Well, I guess that’s why we’re friends.” 

 

“I’ll bring it to you when I’m done.” 

 

Carmilla went back to looking at the ceiling. It was blue and covered in what looked to be pieces of sticker that had stayed stuck when the rest was peeled off. 

 

“Are you looking at the stickers?” Laura asked as she opened the pantry, “I covered the ceiling in glow in the dark stickers once. Daddy got mad but it looked really cool. It was like I was looking at space!” 

 

“You like space?” 

 

“I like looking at it. But it’s hard to see them here. Daddy says it’s because there’s a lot of lights even at night. Smooth or crunchy?” 

 

Carmilla got up and trotted back to the couch. “Smooth?” 

 

“Okay. Want the crust cut off? I like the crust cut off mine.” 

 

“Whatever, kid.” 

 

“Okay! Here!” 

 

Laura walked into the family room, holding up her plate on which a very sticky crustless peanut butter sandwich sat. The jelly was oozing out all over the plate and Laura had some peanut butter on her cheek. 

 

“I’ll make you a bunch more, but this is a good start,” Laura said, “Here.” 

 

Carmilla’s snout wrinkled. That looked kind of messy. And she didn’t currently have opposable thumbs. 

 

But Laura was beaming with pride at what she thought was an excellently constructed sandwich. Carmilla didn’t want to have to explain the whole vampire thing to her yet. 

 

So she did the only thing she could do; Carmilla shoved her face into the plate, licking it clean, Laura wobbling a little from the force of Carmilla’s tongue. 

 

Laura started giggling, putting the plate on a side table by the couch. “Um, Carmilla, you’ve got some on you?” 

 

“Where?” 

 

Laura smiled, taking her hand and rubbing it all over her face. Carmilla huffed. 

 

“Haha, cupcake.” 

 

“Cupcake?” 

 

Carmilla licked and paw and started cleaning herself. “You are tiny and full of sugar.” 

 

“Heeeey,” Laura started clapping her hands, “That’s cool! Maybe you can have a nickname too! Then we’ll have codenames so only we’ll know when we’re talking about each other! What should yours be?” 

 

“Uh...I don’t do nickanmes--” 

 

“Kitty. Your codename is Kitty and mine is Cupcake.” 

 

“I never agreed to that!” 

 

“Aw, come on Kitty, why not?” 

 

“Because it’s stupid--” 

 

“See? You just responded to Kitty. It’s official,” Laura said, grinning. Carmilla glared at her. 

 

“...I think I’m stuffed.” 

 

“Good!” Laura grabbed the paper plate and skipped off with it, “Now we can play.” 

 

“For your information,” Carmilla said, jumping off the couch, “I am far too fearsome and dangerous to be called Kitty.” 

 

Laura smiled, petting Carmilla on the head. Carmilla started to purr in spite of herself. 

 

“...Sure, Kitty, you are very big and scary.” 

 

Carmilla rolled her eyes. “Let’s just get out of here.” 

 

“Sure! Let’s find something to do outside. You know, my Daddy has this great cardboard box he threw into the recycling bin after we got a new fridge. We can use it for lots of stuff! I bet we can turn it into a time machine. Or we can use it to go sailing on the ocean. Want to be my first mate? Yeah! It’ll be awesome! I’ll be Captain Hollis of the S.S. Panther!” 

 

She took a fist full of the loose skin around Carmilla’s neck in lieu of a hand she could grab. Carmilla stopped listening to Laura’s babbling after awhile. Unless she actually intended to use the cardboard box as a ship, she didn’t have the heart to tell her that cardboard boxes weren’t the best at, you know, floating. 

 

“Daddy!” Laura called out, “Me and my new panther are going to go into the backyard and go sailing in that cardboard box you put in the recycling bin!” 

 

“Don’t leave the yard, Baby Bear,” a bored voice called from upstairs. 

 

“Does he ever leave that room?” Carmilla asked. If she’d been a parent and heard that, she might have had a bit of a different reaction, to say the least. 

Then again, she had a feeling Laura said she was going to do a lot of things that ended up with her just running around in the backyard making noise. 

 

“Daddy works a lot, so he’s too busy to play with me most of the time,” Laura answered, “But it’s alright--I have you to play with now!” 

 

And Laura wrapped her skinny little arms around Carmilla’s neck. Carmilla was both angry at herself for getting wrapped up in this mess, and oddly touched. 

 

It was ridiculous. She was five and annoying. 

 

But having someone who didn’t think Carmilla was a monster was...kind of nice. 


	3. Chapter 3

“So you can be a regular sized cat too?” Laura said, laying flat on her stomach in the backyard.

 

“I will occasionally, yes,” Carmilla answered, sitting in front of her. She usually hated turning into a housecat--the reason she liked turning into a panther was because she liked feeling strong and powerful. But wandering around the neighborhood with Laura as a full grown panther would mean someone was calling animal control. Besides, she was hanging out with a lonely toddler. Being a panther didn't do much to make that less embarrassing. 

 

She still questioned why she hung out with her. Sure, she was lonely, but since when did Carmilla care about lonely kids?

 

The answer, of course, was that Carmilla usually terrified children. This one saw her in the form of a giant monster and wanted to be her friend. That alone made her more interesting than the typical five year old.

 

“Cool! Maybe Daddy will let you stay in the house, then. I always wanted pet--”

 

“I am _not_ a pet, Cupcake,” Carmilla answered. Laura frowned.

 

“Hey, I’m sorry,” Laura said; she sat up. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. What do you want to do today?”

 

That was a good question. The past few days she’d spent with Laura involved lots of long walks in the woods wading through creeks, and pretending those shadows the trees were making were actually monsters.

 

Nothing. Carmilla really wanted to just do nothing. But she knew Laura, the perpetual ball of energy, wouldn’t be okay with that answer.

 

She was about to make a case for why lying in the grass all day was actually a _great_ idea when Laura’s head turned toward the sound of cars.

 

“Oh, Carm, do you hear that?” Laura jumped up and Carmilla followed, using her housecat form to jump on Laura’s shoulder and then on top of the backyard fence.

 

“Looks like a...moving van?”

 

“Really? Let me see!”

 

“No one’s stopping you, Laura.”

 

“I’m too short!”

 

She looked down at Laura from the fence, watching her bouncing on the balls of her feet. She finally hopped down.

 

“Fine, here.”

 

She shifted to panther, letting Laura climb onto her back to look over.

 

“Hey, it’s in front of Betty’s house!” Laura exclaimed. “Betty was my friend that moved away before I met you. Do you think another kid is moving in?”

 

“I don’t know. What do you see?” Carmilla asked, frowning. “Laura, try to stay on my back, not on my head?”

 

“Sorry. Um...I see a bed that looks too small for grown-ups! Do you think that maybe they’ll like me…?”

 

“Well, one way to find out. Boy or girl?”

 

“Not sure.”

 

Carmilla strained her ears to hear what was happening. She could hear people across the street walking, the sound of an engine; and then a woman’s voice shouting:

 

“Honey, come here!”

 

“I bet it’s another stupid boy,” Laura said bitterly--

 

“Coming, Mom!”

 

Carmilla heard Laura give a sharp intake of breath.

 

“Laura? Cupcake? You alright up there?”

 

“...It’s another girl.”

 

“Oh. Cool.”

 

Carmilla frowned, wondering why Laura suddenly sounded so...dopey.

 

“Can you maybe come down now?”

 

Laura clambered off of Carmilla, pressing her back against the fence and sliding down until she was sitting.

 

“So...what’d you think?” Carmilla asked, sitting and looking down at Laura.

 

“She was tall,” Laura said, eyes still wide and disbelieving, “and she had long red hair. In pigtails.”

 

“Huh. Well, maybe you can play with her,” Carmilla answered, not really paying attention to the conversation anymore; she got up. “Did you want to play or what?”

 

“Carmilla?” Laura asked, standing.

 

“Yes?”

 

“...I think I’m in love,” Laura said dreamily, skipping off. Carmilla stared at Laura in disbelief.

*

It really shouldn’t have come as a surprise to Carmilla. Laura went from zero to one hundred in the blink of an eye. Carmilla was her best friend in the world within hours of meeting her; it made perfect sense that she would decide on her future wife with one look.

 

“Do you think the Tall Redheaded Girl has made any friends yet?” Laura asked one day, laying in the grass with Carmilla to make shapes out of the clouds.

 

“Cupcake, are you ever going to stop talking about her?” Carmilla groaned, scratching her stomach with a paw, “if you want to talk to her, talk to her. It’s been Tall Redhaired Girl this, Redhaired Girl that. Just talk to her already.”

 

“But I _can’t,”_ Laura whined, covering her face with her hands, “none of the other kids in the neighborhood want to be my friend. They all think I’m weird and annoying. What if she does?”

 

“You don’t know until you try, kid,” Carmilla answered, shifting onto her side to look at her. “It’s not the end of the world, anyway. You won’t be any worse off if she doesn’t like you.”

 

Laura rolled to her side too, looking into the panther’s eyes.

 

“Carmilla, do you believe in love at first sight?”

 

She was slightly shocked at the question, yellow eyes widening in alarm. But Laura was looking at Carmilla with such tender, earnest sincerity that she couldn’t lie to her.

 

“...I’ve had it happen to me before.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Once.”

 

She rolled onto her back again, tail twitching uncomfortably.

 

“Carm, what was his name? Or her name?”

 

“Her.”

 

“She must have been a really nice panther,” Laura said, “a really beautiful panther who loved to run around at night and play hide-and-seek, and walk around in the woods.”

 

“She wasn’t a panther. Ell was...a lioness,” Carmilla answered. Lioness seemed the right shade of light for her. “And she was.”

 

“What happened to her?” Laura asked.

 

“I...I did something bad. And she went away.”

 

Carmilla could feel all of the tension in the air. Laura squinted slightly. Then a tiny hand gently touched her on the shoulder.

 

“Everybody makes mistakes,” Laura said simply.

 

And that was that. Carmilla had never imagined it going so smoothly. ‘I did something bad’. ‘Okay’. It had been so long since Carmilla dealt with children that she had forgotten how accepting they were.

 

“But you know how I feel then!” Laura continued blithely on, standing and speaking passionately, “Carmilla, when I saw her walk into her house--she was seriously the prettiest girl I ever saw. And the way she _walked._ She looked like she wasn’t afraid of anything! She was _perfect._ And I’m going to marry her.”

 

The corners of her mouth turned up, showing her teeth. It looked more angry than happy on a panther. “Well, the thing about marriage is that you need to tell her so she knows when to show up.”

 

“I _will_ talk to her,” Laura answered, biting her lip and pacing back and forth on the grass, “I just...I need to figure out what to do.”

 

Laura slapped a hand to her chest dramatically. “I need to show her how I feel! I need to do something impressive to _prove_ my love!”

 

Carmilla couldn’t help it; she started to laugh. “Well, if there’s any dragons you can slay for her, I’ll help.”

 

“Will you?” Laura grabbed Carmilla’s face in her hands, “Carmilla, do you think you could help me? This is _super important._ I need to do it right.”

 

“Sure. I will help you confess your love to the Redheaded Girl, okay?” Carmilla answered flippantly. Laura clapped her hands excitedly.

 

“Thank you, thank you, _thank you!”_ Laura exclaimed, as Carmilla sighed in resignation.

 

*

Laura had a doctor’s appointment, and she had promised to wait for Laura, which meant she spent the better part of the afternoon sunbathing and raiding the fridge for snacks. She’d probably get mad at Carmilla once her father blamed her for eating all the chocolate, but she thought it was worth it. Besides, Laura had been planning on eating all of it anyway.

 

“CARMILLA!”

 

She sat on her haunches and Laura gave her a hug.

 

“Carmilla, I figured it out! I know how to get the Redheaded Girl to talk to me!”

 

“Uh...okay?” She didn’t think it’d only take a day, but more power to her.

 

“I saw her on her porch with a stuffed animal. She likes _cats!”_

 

“Oh...that’s...great.”

 

“So let’s go!” Laura grabbed her paw, pulling Carmilla back to all fours. Carmilla tugged Laura back.

 

“Laura, I’m not going over there.”

 

“But you’re a _really big_ cat. That’ll be really impressive, right? She’ll love it! And then she’ll agree to marry me!”

 

“So your idea of a proposal,” Carmilla said dryly, “is to knock on her door, and have you both ride on my back off into the sunset.”

 

“Yes,” Laura said seriously.

 

“No.”

 

“Carmilla, _come on!_ You promised to help!”

 

Carmilla ran a paw down her face in frustration. “Look, kid,” Carmilla said, leaning in closer and lowering her voice, “how about this. I will go as a housecat. You can use your housecat as an icebreaker, okay?”

 

Laura’s smile faltered a little. “O-okay. Sure. Let’s try that?”

 

“...You figured the panther thing would be so amazing that you wouldn’t have to actually speak to her, didn’t you?”

 

“No!”

 

“Then prove it,” Carmilla answered, shifting to a housecat. Laura picked her up.

 

“Laura, what have we talked about. You don’t pick me up under my arms. One hand under my _legs._ ”

 

“Right, sorry,” Laura mumbled, biting her lip.

 

“Kid, come on, you got this.”

 

“Yeah, I got this,” Laura said to herself, opening the gate and walking across the street.

 

When they got as far as in front of the Redheaded Girl’s door, Laura raised one hand to knock.

 

“Laura, wait.”

 

She used a paw to smooth Laura’s hair back.

 

“Alright. Knock ‘em dead, Cupcake.”

 

“Right!” Laura puffed up her chest, knocking on the door three times. She couldn’t even reach the doorbell.

 

“Coming!” A young voice called from inside the house. Laura sucked in a breath.

 

“Laura--”

 

She yelped, dropping Carmilla and running away.

 

“LAURA WHAT ARE YOU--”

 

The door opened and Carmilla frozen, staring up at the Tall Redheaded Girl.

 

“...A cat?” She twisted a pigtail in her fingers as she looked Carmilla over.

 

“Meow?”

 

“Aw, you’re really cute,” she said, smiling, picking Carmilla up--correctly--and petting her on the head. Carmilla started to purr. “I always wanted a cat, but my mom’s allergic. Where do you live?”

Carmilla turned her head to look across the street, where Laura looked to be hiding in the bushes. She twisted in the Tall Redheaded Girl’s grip, until she could sort of point.

 

“What are you…? Oh!”

 

Laura yelped again and tried to hide herself better. The Tall Redheaded Girl walked across the street.

 

“Hey, is this your cat?”

 

Laura looked up at her. “Um...yes?” She managed to squeak.

 

“Here. She’s a really cute cat.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

The Tall Redheaded Girl dropped Carmilla gently in front of the bush, and walked back into her house.

 

“Well, that was kind of a disaster,” Carmilla said, “Laura...Laura? Cupcake?”

 

“She talked to me,” Laura said dreamily, looking across the street at her house.

 

Carmilla sighed, taking her pant leg and gently tugging her back in the direction of the yard as Laura kept sneaking glances back.


	4. Let's Pretend

The box wasn’t heavy, but Laura insisted that Carmilla handle it  _ very delicately _ . How she could avoid making bite marks in a cardboard box, Carmilla had no idea, but she managed. 

 

“Okay Carm, right in the middle of the yard, alright? There!” 

 

Carmilla let go of the cardboard flap and sat down, scratching her ear with her foot. “Alright, Cupcake, now can you tell me what the box is for?” 

 

“I haven’t decided,” Laura answered; she reached into the pocket of her favorite overalls, pulling out a fat tipped sharpie. “Hmm….OH! I know!” 

 

Laura pushed past Carmilla, uncapping the marker and writing in big letters on the side of the box. She stepped to the side, spreading her arms out proudly to show off what she wrote in big letters: 

 

**TIME MACHEEN**

 

“See?” Laura said, grinning, “we can go anywhere we want, whenever we want! It’ll be so cool!” 

 

Carmilla wrinkled her nose. “Uh...Laura, it’s a box.” 

 

“No, it’s a time machine.” 

 

“Writing ‘time machine’ on the side of the box doesn’t suddenly make it a time machine.” 

 

“Carmilla, come on! It can be anything you want. You just need to use your,” Laura scrambled into the box, popping her head up and spreading her hands in an arc like a rainbow, “ _ imagination.”  _

 

“...You have been watching too much Spongebob.” 

 

“Kitty,  _ come on. _ ” 

 

“Fine, fine,” Carmilla grumbled, “just don’t call me Kitty, you know I hate that nickname.” 

 

She clambered into the box, shifting into a housecat; her panther form made it rather cramped. 

“Laura, I do not do pretend games.” 

 

“You mean you won’t try,” Laura answered stubbornly, “now where are we going? The future or the past?” 

 

“Whatever.” 

 

“Future it is! TO 2300!” 

 

Laura started pressing imaginary buttons on the cardboard in front of her, making various ‘beep bop’ sounds. Carmilla waited uncomfortably. Then Laura tightened her hands into fists. 

 

“ _ Vroooooooom….”  _ Laura hummed, moving her hands as though she was driving. 

 

“Wow, car noises,” Carmilla said dryly, “much creative.” 

 

“Stop, Carmilla.” 

 

“Of course, I always imagined time machines being more of a plane deal--” 

 

“Stop, or I’ll miss the-- _ hang on! Whoa!”  _

 

Laura lurched to the right, the entire box toppling onto its side. Laura fell out with a small ‘oof!’ and Carmilla, of course, landed on her feet. 

 

“What the heck was that, Laura?” 

 

“You distracted me!” Laura said, putting her hands on her hips as she sat indian style in the grass. “I almost missed the turn!” 

 

Carmilla huffed, shifting back to panther. “Laura, I didn’t make you almost miss anything!  _ You  _ threw yourself to the side and made the box fall over, because  _ we were not really traveling through time in a cardboard box. _ ” 

 

Laura glared at Carmilla. “You want to be  _ boring  _ and not have any fun? Fine.” She got up, wiping her pants. “We can go.” 

 

She tried to pretend that a toddler’s pouting lip didn’t affect her in the least. But that didn’t work. Carmilla  _ did  _ feel bad. All Laura wanted to do was play a pretend game. 

 

But...but Carmilla was terrible at playing pretend. She operated pretty strictly in reality. 

 

Then again...she did have over 300 years of reality to draw from. 

 

“Laura, wait,” Carmilla said. Laura didn’t look back as she walked past Carmilla toward the house. “Come back.” 

 

“Nice try, Carm,” Laura huffed, “I’m going back inside and you can’t stop me.” 

 

“What, Cupcake, you don’t notice that we’re not in your backyard anymore? It’s pretty obvious we landed somewhere else.” 

 

Laura stopped, looking back. “Wait. Are you…?” 

 

Carmilla only tilted her head slightly to the side with a little panther smirk. Laura grinned back. 

 

“Wow, you’re right! It worked!” Laura jumped in the air, immediately getting back into the game, “Carmilla, where are we? Do you know?” 

 

“Definitely not the future, I can tell you that. Looks like you still made that wrong turn.” 

 

“So...we’re in the  _ past?”  _

 

Carmilla nodded, looking around at her surroundings. “The 1600s, by the looks of it. Probably...1698.” 

 

“How do you know?” 

 

“I’m smart,” Carmilla answered, “besides, look at the street. Just look at all of those horse drawn carriages! And peasants selling produce in their carts.” 

 

Laura turned in a slow circle, taking it all in. “ _ Wow _ . I can’t believe it worked!”

 

Carmilla couldn’t help but smile a little at Laura’s excitement. “I know. Now the problem is getting back. We kind of crashed.” 

 

“Well, I know! This is the past, so there totally must be a king or a queen, right? Let’s find them!” 

 

“There isn’t a king. But there  _ is  _ a Count.” 

 

“A Count?” 

 

“Yes. The Count and Countess von Karnstein,” Carmilla continued. She kept talking, and as she did she could almost feel herself being brought back--back to Styria, to her childhood estate, to being human again. 

 

It was nice. 

 

“And everyone is travelling to the celebration being held for their daughter,” Carmilla continued, “Mircalla von Karnstein.” 

 

“Wow, cool! Let’s go meet her! I think I see the castle over there.” 

 

Laura hopped on Carmilla’s back, pointing toward the shed at the end of the yard. “Onward, Carmilla!” 

 

“I’m not a horse,” Carmilla grumbled, but she sighed and trotted down to the shed. 

 

“Do you knows lots about the Count’s daughter?” Laura asked, “what  _ is  _ a Count anyways?” 

 

“A count is...you know. Kind of like a king.” 

 

“Does that mean his daughter is a princess?” 

 

“Yeah.” 

 

Carmilla could feel Laura’s hands dig into her fur as she bounced excitedly. “A PRINCESS! We’re going to meet a  _ real live  _ princess!” 

 

“Calm it  _ down,  _ Cupcake,” Carmilla said, stopping in front of the shed and sitting so Laura could hop off, “besides, it could be dangerous in there. Rumor is that someone might try to hurt the princess at the party--” 

 

Carmilla stopped. She was getting a  _ little  _ too personal. But of course Laura didn’t miss it. 

 

“Someone is going to try and hurt the princess?” Laura asked, sliding off Carmilla, “well, they can’t if we’re there! No one will try anything with a panther in the room!” 

 

“...Yeah. Let’s go.” 

 

Laura threw open the doors dramatically. 

 

“OH GREAT KING--” 

 

“ _ Count,  _ Laura.” 

 

“--COUNT! My friend and I are  _ intrepid  _ explorers who would like help repairing our time machine!” 

 

Laura was kneeling in front of the lawn mower she had apparently decided was a throne. “Carm, bow.” 

 

Carmilla lowered herself awkwardly. 

 

“Um…hi. And whatever.” 

 

“Don’t be disrespectful Carmilla! What’s he saying? He talks funny.” 

 

“That’s  _ german,  _ Laura. And he’s saying…” 

 

Carmilla tried to imagine her father in front of them. With his closely trimmed dark beard and piercing gaze. 

 

“...He thinks we are the product of witchcraft and will have us arrested,” Carmilla said, wincing a little. Maybe that was a bit  _ too  _ serious for a pretend game…

 

“Oh, whoa!” Laura held up her hands, looking around her. “There’s no reason to use all your guards. I mean--OH MY GOSH!” 

 

“WHAT?” 

 

“Someone is trying to kidnap the princess!” Laura exclaimed, “look! NINJAS!” 

 

Wait.  _ Ninjas?  _

 

“Wait, Laura, what do you mean nin--” 

 

“I WILL SAVE MIRCALLA! FIGHT ME EVIL NINJAS!” 

 

Laura grabbed a spade that was hanging on the wall. “HIYAH!” 

 

She started miming that she was sword fighting, spinning and jumping in the air. Carmilla stared at Laura in shock. Ninjas. Well, since when was a toddler’s daydreams expected to be historically accurate? Or even make sense? 

 

“Carm, help!” 

 

She snapped out of her shock at Laura’s exuberant and utter  _ strangeness  _ to jump in and make some swipes at the air. 

 

“Ha! Take THAT! And, uh...you know, THAT! Uh,  _ die ninjas!”  _

 

“That’s right! Just try and beat a panther you bullies! Carmilla, come on, we need to get out of here!” 

 

“Then  _ run!”  _

 

Laura jumped out of the shed and Carmilla followed, bursting into the sun, jumping into the box and turning into a housecat when she landed. Laura followed.  

 

“But Carmilla, the time machine is still--” 

 

“It just needed to recharge, Laura, COME ON!” Carmilla answered, her heart beating surprisingly fast. What came over her? 

 

“Right! Hang on!” 

 

Laura yanked the ‘wheel’ back as if they were being hit with g-forces. Carmilla leaned back with her. When they stopped, Laura climbed out with a hand clutching her chest. 

“WHOOOO! That was AWESOME! Did you see that? I fought all those ninjas! There were, like, over  _ nine thousand  _ ninjas or something!” 

 

Carmilla turned back into a panther, licking her paw and smoothing down her fur. “Yeah. Great.” 

 

“ _ And  _ I saved Princess Mircalla!” Laura exclaimed, holding up her spade proudly, “look! I even got to keep the sword I used to fight off the ninjas!” 

 

Carmilla paused, looking at Laura softly. “Huh. You did rescue Mircalla, didn’t you?” 

 

“Yep!” Laura put her hands on her hips, lifting her chin. Then she frowned. “I wish I knew what happened to her. I rescued a beautiful daughter of a count and I don’t even know what happened to her.” 

 

Carmilla’s ears flattened. “She...uh. I think she’s okay. Want to go use your  _ sword  _ to dig around by that little stream she found in the woods?” 

 

“You think so?” Laura asked, grabbing the skin of Carmilla’s neck to swing a leg over and climb on. Carmilla sighed. 

 

“Sure,” Carmilla said, “I have a feeling things for her ended up being...you know, okay.” 

 

Laura stayed silent at Carmilla’s suddenly somber tone. She added hastily, “you know saving her basically makes you a knight now, right?” 

 

“A KNIGHT! I AM LADY LAURA OF THE HOLLIS ORDER!” Laura shouted, waving her spade in the air, “ _ onward,  _ mighty steed! Let’s go find another princess in the forest!” 

 

“Not a horse, Laura,” Carmilla reminded her, but couldn’t help but laugh a little when she said it, trotting off toward the woods. 

 

Yeah. Things for Mircalla were going okay. 


End file.
